Machu Picchu: Enigmas behind the architectural marvel Machu Picchu [Matshu Piktshu] lies at the heart of a landscape of imposing peaks covered with luxuriant vegetation. It was built sometime in the last third of the 15th century by the Incas, whose culture marked the final phase of six thousand years of Peruvian civilization. In common with other similar monuments of the period, it was located in relative proximity to Cuzco, in the Vilcabamba [Wilkapanpa] territory, a region of rugged slopes and cloud forest typical of the Amazonian Andes. Although the details of its past may never be clarified, we can assume that its main functions were those of an administrative center for the production of the crops grown on its steep terraces and, at the same time, a religious center dedicated to the gods upon whom its inhabitants believed their existence depended: the Water God and Earth Goddess, or Pachamama [Patschamama].* In essence, the religiosity practiced at Machu Picchu was nothing more than a type of agricultural strategy. Together with other agricultural centers in the Vilcabamba region, Machu Picchu would appear to have been conceived within the context of a huge state project, the object of which was the expansion of agricultural activity into the Amazonian Andes beyond Cuzco. This hypothesis is based on the fact that in Peru land suitable for agriculture is scarce, both in the highlands and the coastal Andes. Given the continuous rise in population density, and in common with the experience of all ancient societies which opted to live from farming the land, from its earliest phases Andean civilization found itself facing the problem of insufficient territory suitable for cultivation. It was this ecological imbalance that inspired the development of diverse strategies designed to resolve the problem of food production. Among such strategies was the policy of expanding agricultural frontiers, undertaken during the Inca period. In addition to the problem of extremely limited land for cultivation, another factor has always affected food production in Peru and brought hunger to its people: the El Niño phenomenon, which regularly unleashes periods of drought and flooding, as well as other extreme weather events. It was believed that such catastrophes could only be prevented through magical-religious practices; namely, worship of the supernatural entity said to control atmospheric phenomena. This was the Water God, the most important deity in the Andean pantheon, present in the sacred mountains known as apus, who was called upon to fertilize his consort, the Earth Goddess, by drenching her with his rains. These divine beings are still venerated throughout large areas of the Peruvian highlands. Some scholars have maintained that Machu Picchu was built by Pachacutec [Patshakutek] to serve as a kind of “royal hacienda” or “place of leisure”. However, the sovereigns of the Inca state, particularly the aforementioned Pachacutec, along with the kin groups who supported their reign, would have had very little time for “leisure”. They were fully occupied in expanding and governing the territory they controlled, which covered an enormous area almost four thousand kilometers in length. In addition, they found themselves having to contend with rugged, barren topography, vast areas of desert and the recurrent severe weather events associated with the El Niño phenomenon. And should we really believe that the other superb architectural complexes in the vicinity of Machu Picchu, such as Wiñay Wayna [Winiai Waina] or Choquequirao [Tshoqeqirao], were also established to serve as personal fiefdoms? __________________ (*) This proposition is based on careful research and ethnographic testimonies, as well as archaeological and iconographic observation and the study of ethno-historical sources. (Kauffmann Doig 1986a, 1991b, 1996a, 2001a, 2001c, 2003a and 2003c). To summarize, the author maintains that, as well as being an administrative center for food production, Machu Picchu was conceived as a religious site for the practice of rituals aimed at propitiating the gods upon whom the harvest depended, and this hypothesis will be discussed at length in one of the chapters of this work (Kauffmann Doig 2003c). The reader will also be asked to consider other perspectives that deviate from accepted theories. The author will discuss, for example, the significance of the highly votive sculpture known as the Intihuatana ([Intiwatana] / translated as “tying down the sun”). A myth which is still recounted in some parts of the Andes tells of how ancient ancestors, or “pagans”, were able to “tie down the sun” through their prayers, so that daylight hours could be extended, allowing them to continue with their work in the fields and increase yields to meet the growing demand for foodstuffs (Kauffmann Doig 2005: 55-58, 2006: 55-58). In addition, the reader will be invited to consider other hypotheses which lie beyond traditional interpretations. For example, in his discussion of the causes that led to the abandonment of Machu Picchu and other neighboring monumental sites, such as Wiñay Wayna, the author describes how this process of depopulation would have begun amid the chaos engendered by the arrival of the Spanish. He theorizes that this abandonment would have been completed just a few years after the decline of the Inca state, during the campaign led by Manco Inca and his successors who, from their refuge in the Vilcabamba region, fought from 1537 to 1572 to annihilate or expel the European invaders. These neo-Inca leaders would have found themselves requiring reinforcements to swell their ranks and garrison strategic locations, to which end they would have recruited from the local population. This recruitment would have led to the abandonment en masse of local population centers. We know this from colonial-era documents, which indicate that the village of Huamanmarca [Wamanmarka] was emptied of its entire population as Manco Inca recruited from the area on his march across the Choquechaca [Tshoketshaka] bridge and deep into the forests of Vilcabamba (Kauffmann Doig 2010). As the reader will have gathered, this book is not limited to a description of Machu Picchu, for since Bingham many descriptions of the site have been published. The aim of this work is to draw the reader’s attention to the historical context and processes that surrounded the construction by Peru’s ancient inhabitants of this emblematic architectural wonder. Federico Kauffmann-Doig
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 04:25:57 +0000
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